Sing Along
by Random Stuff About Stuff
Summary: Through a series of accidents, Aang, Zuko, Momo, and Uncle Iroh end up imprisoned together. Aang decides on a very entertaining way to pass the time. SINGING! Zuko hates him. Nonslash
1. The Llama Song and We Like the Moon

Disclaimer: If any of this were mine, we wouldn't be calling it fanfiction, now would we? Also, the songs are all property of their respective writers, which means my little brother owns the Song of Randomness, and I own Aang's Song, both of which will appear in later chapters.

A/N This is freaky. I am freaky. Don't ask, okay? Oh, by the way, this is probably set about halfway through Season One, when Zuko and Iroh are constantly about two feet behind Aang, Katara, and Sokka. Hope nobody's too OOC. No offense is meant by Aang's comments to those of you who like Zuko. He didn't mean it.

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own, Aang? Zuko's probably still out there."

Aang winced as his friend Katara's overprotective-ness. He was, after all, the Avatar. He'd be fine, and said so

"Right, well, don't expect us to come save you when you get yourself captured again," Sokka told him, and went back to poking at the nuts that were his dinner.

The young Avatar shook his head at his friends, and wandered off. If he was going to stay in practice with his AirBending, he'd have to actually practice, something that was pretty hard around camp. Katara had been trying to teach him to sing, saying that it improved lung capacity, or something like that, but it really wasn't the same.

Aang ran around on his Air Scooter for a while, not really getting any work done, just pretending that he was still normal, which was a pretty futile exercise, but oh, well. Then he saw a large head of cabbage. He decided that he was tired of nuts, and maybe he could make Katara a salad. Of course, he'd save some for himself and Momo and Appa. Maybe even give some to Sokka, if he was nice.

Dropping off his Scooter, Aang ran towards the head of cabbage and picked it up. Then, glancing on the ground, he saw a string with a note attached to it. The note appeared to be written in some foreign language, but Aang picked it up and looked closer, just to see if he could read it.

As soon as he picked it up, however, the string was pulled and a large wooden cage fell down around him. Before the boy had a chance to wonder what had happened, a taunting, familiar voice sounded from somewhere in the trees.

"I told you, Uncle, that he would fall for this," Zuko laughed.

"Fall for what?" Aang asked with childish innocence.

Zuko laughed again. He was starting to sound slightly evil. "You pulled a string that said 'Avatar, pull this'. How stupid can you get?"

"Now, now, Nephew," Uncle Iroh admonished. "Don't gloat. He's only a child."

"Wait," Aang frowned in confusion. "Where did it say _that_?"

Angrily, Zuko grabbed the string from him and pointed at the note. "Here. Right here!"

"What language is that… ohh! I see it. Sorry, I didn't see that. You've got really bad handwriting, no offense."

Zuko yanked angrily at the string, maybe attempting to show it to his uncle and ask if his handwriting was really _that_ bad. But he didn't get a chance because just then, a second cage fell down and trapped Zuko and Iroh.

Blinking cheerfully and ignoring his nephew's grunt of frustration, Iroh commented, "Hmm. I didn't see that coming."

"Why did you even insist on building a second cage?" demanded Zuko furiously. Iroh shrugged.

"In case the Avatar wandered over this way instead of that. It seemed logical at the time."

Zuko gave a shout of anger and hurled a fireball at the cage. Nothing happened, except that the fireball burned out. "What? Uncle, why…"

"Oh," Iroh shrugged again. "It must have gotten wet in the trees. Anyway, we're too close to the Avatar's cage. You can't burn us out without killing him too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight? _Goodnight_? What do you mean, goodnight?"

"I'm going to sleep. There's not much else we can do until the crew comes and rescues us. I left my tea outside." He stared sadly at the packs, which were, indeed, trapped outside the cage.

Iroh curled up and, to all appearances, went to sleep. Zuko groaned and sank against the wall of the cage. Aang, inside the other, cocked his head and gave the older boy a considering look.

"I know what we can do to pass the time," he announced finally, deciding that refusing to speak to the two Fire Benders would only make the remainder of his imprisonment lonely and boring.

"I don't _want_ to pass the time with an eleven-year-old enemy of the Fire Nation!" snapped Zuko.

"I'm twelve," Aang retorted. "But I'll forgive you for ignoring that. Do you want to hear my idea?"

"No."

"Now, now, Nephew," Iroh said, sitting up. "Be nice. What's your idea, child?" he asked Aang gently.

"Well, earlier today, I was trying to practice my Air Bending, but that's kinda hard when you're on a flying bison. So my friend Katara decided to try to teach me a certain exercise to improve lung capacity. She calls it a sing-along, but I don't really know the difference between that and normal singing."

"What!" Zuko sat bolt upright and glared at him. "You want to have a _sing along_?"

Iroh laughed, sounding much less evil than Zuko did. "That's a wonderful idea, Avatar, but I don't know how to sing very well. Maybe you should try it."

"Uncle!"

"Actually, my name's Aang," Aang said.

Iroh smiled. "And I am Iroh."

Zuko glared at the two of them. "You're both insane." But at least he didn't cover his ears, which Aang took as an offer to go ahead and sing as loud as he wanted.

"Alright. Here goes." he said. And he started singing.

"We like the moon!

'Cause it is close too us!

We like the moo-o-oon!

But not as much as a spoon.

'Cause that's more use for eating soup.

And a fork isn't very useful for that.

Unless it has got many vegetables.

And maybe the you'd be better off with a CHOPSTICK!

Unlike the moon.

It is up in the sky.

It up there very high,

But maybe not as high as

Dirigibles or Zeppelins or LIGHTBULBS!

And maybe clouds.

And puffins also I think they go quite high too.

But maybe not as high as the moon!

We like the-"

"Stop!" Zuko shouted. Now he really did put his hands over his ears. "We get it! Change channels, sing something else! Or better yet, don't sing at all!"

"Now, Nephew, Aang's a very good singer," Iroh told him. Zuko looked confused.

"What?"

"What, what?"

"What did you say?" Zuko asked loudly. Iroh sighed, and removed one hand from it's ear. Zuko looked embarrassed that he hadn't thought of that and moved the other hand.

"I _said_ Aang's a very good singer!" shouted Iroh. "Do…"

"Uncle!" exclaimed Zuko.

"What?"

"You can stop shouting. I can hear you now."

"Oh." Iroh flapped his hand as Aang. "Continue your song, young Avatar."

"Actually, I forget the rest," Aang said sheepishly. Zuko perked up, but then he added, "So I'll sing something else!"

"Here's a llama,

There's a llama.

And another little llama.

Fuzzy llama.

Funny llama.

Llama, llama duck!

Llama, llama

Cheesecake llama

Tablet, brick, potato Llama

Llama, llama mushroom, llama

Llama, llama duck!

I was once a Treehouse.

I lived in a cake!

But I never saw the way

The orange slayed the rake.

I was only three years dead.

But it told the tale.

And now listen, little child,

To the safety rail.

Did you ever see a llama?

Kiss a llama on the llama?

Llama's llama, taste of llama

Llama llama duck.

Half a llama,

Twice a llama

Not a llama

Farmer, llama.

Llama, in a car

Alarm a llama

Llama, llama, duck.

Is that how it's told now?

Is it all so old?

Is it made of lemon juice?

Doorknob, ankle, cold.

Now my song is getting thin.

I've run out of luck.

Time for me to retire now and become a duck."

Zuko stared at him. "That was the most random thing I have ever heard. _What is wrong with you?_"

For once, Iroh decided not to intervene as Aang retorted. "Gee, I dunno. What's wrong with me? Do you mean, besides the fact that I've just spent _a hundred_ years trapped in an _iceberg_? And you're constant attempts on my life? And that my only home is the back of a _flying bison with an arrow on his head_? Besides that? Well, let me see… I'm stuck in a cage _that you put me in_, my friends are too busy fighting to notice that I'm gone, and the only one who cares about me enough to attempt a rescue is a _lemur_!"

Momo, who had followed Aang and was now sitting on his shoulder, bounced down to the ground and turned his back on him.

"What's wrong with _you_?"

Now it was Zuko's turn to be sarcastic. "Oh, not much. See, I've got an insane protégé sister, my father gave me _this_," he pointed angrily at his scar, "when I was _fourteen_, and then banished me because I was _scared! _I've spent the past two years looking for a great warrior who had eluded my people for a _century_, because capturing him is the only way to ever be allowed home! And then, when I _did_ find him, he turned out to be _twelve_! I've got a crazy general after me because he wants to capture you first, and you're blaming _me _for _your_ problems? You talk about your friends being annoying? At least you _have_ friends! All _I've_ got is my uncle who's obsessed with _tea_! Do you know how annoying _tea_ gets after a while? _Do you?_"

"Gee," Aang commented, slightly subdued by this outburst. "You've got serious _issues_."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, everybody does. Get used to it, kid."

"For the last time, quit calling me _kid_! I know I'm young, but still! You're not that much older than me!"

"Not that much older! Try _six years_ older!"

"Well, obviously they don't teach _stuck up Fire Nation princes_ basic arithmetic! You're only _four_ years older than me! I'm twelve, not ten!"

"Doesn't anyone want to hear about _my_ issues?" demanded Iroh. The squabbling pair ignored him.

"Yeah, well, you sure don't _act_ very mature! You act like a spoiled _four year old_! And you look like a monkey!"

"I guess not," sighed Iroh.

"A monkey! You're one to talk! What animal do _you_ look like? At least monkey's are cute!"

"_Cute_!" They scratch their bums!"

"Oh, come _on_! You don't know the definition of cute! You look like a _girl_! With a bad case of poison oak!"

Without much of a cue, a loud clap of thunder sounded from overhead, and it began to rain.

"Great," muttered Zuko. "Just great."

A/N Please review and tell me what you think! The Llama Song and We Like the Moon are both very strange internet… music videos, I guess you could say.


	2. Aang's Song and Tomato Potato

Aang sighed and stroked Momo's fur sadly. It was boring to sing when nobody was listening, and Zuko and Iroh definitely weren't. Iroh was napping, and there was no _way_ that Zuko would _ever_ want to hear him sing. Especially after what he had said to him. Neither of them had been very nice.

"Zuko?" Aang asked tentatively, crawling over to the other side of the cage.

"What?" demanded the young Fire Bender angrily.

"I'm sorry."

Zuko blinked. Of all the things he had been expecting from the Avatar, and apology was not one of them. Of course, that didn't mean that they weren't enemies. Definitely not!

"I didn't mean what I said about you looking like a girl," Aang told him. "Or about the poison oak. Or about the stuck up Fire Nation prince. Or about not knowing arithmetic. Or about…"

"Avatar! I get it." Zuko paused. It probably wouldn't hurt to be friends… on good terms with the Avatar. Or, to have him think they were. Yes, that was it. "I'm sorry, too."

Aang sighed. "I guess we're very different people," he said.

"I guess we are."

"I know a song about that!" he said suddenly and enthusiastically. Before Zuko could protest, he was singing happily again.

"You say tomato.

I say tom-ah-to.

You say potato.

I say pot-ah-to.

Tomato!

Tom-ah-to!

Potato!

Pot-ah-to!

Let's call the whole thing…

_Off_!"

Zuko blinked at him. "Would you quit singing?" he demanded angrily.

Aang grinned. "Nope."

Iroh rolled over and grunted in his sleep. Both of them waited nervously for a moment, not wanting another lecture about tea. But the elderly general just sighed and settled back into the blankets that Aang had Air Bended over to the two cages.

"Avatar!" snapped Zuko in an irritated whisper. "If you try to sing…"

"You'll what?" teased Aang, also whispering. "You can't kill me, or you'll never be allowed to go home."

Zuko gnashed his teeth in frustration. "No, but I can make life very, very painful for you."

"Not without burning _both_ cages to the ground. It would take a Fire Bending _Master_ to get us out of here without killing anyone."

"Maybe I can practice on your lemur!"

"Besides, the bars are only _one layer_ of wood. The rest is metal."

"What? How do you…"

"Iroh told me, while you were sulking. He said that the crew didn't want you to know, because you'd ordered a _wooden_ cage, but they didn't have enough wood. Pretty dumb, if you ask me. Why would you want the cage to be specifically wooden?" Aang didn't tell him that Iroh had also explained why Zuko was so intent on capturing the Avatar. Iroh had asked him not to, and besides, the prince didn't think to ask.

"That's not important," Zuko snapped. "The point is, I can make life very painful for you _without_ Fire Bending."

Aang skipped nimbly away. "Not if I stay on the other side of the cage."

Zuko growled at him, but there wasn't much he could do.

A few boring hours passed, before Iroh awoke. When he did, Aang returned to the side of the cage closer to Zuko and Iroh.

"I made up a song," he said proudly. Zuko groaned, but Iroh smiled at him.

"That's very nice, Aang. Can we hear it?"

"Can we avoid hearing it?" asked Zuko.

"Yes to you," Aang told Iroh, "And no to you," he said to Zuko.

"I made it up sort of based on the circumstances," he explained, and started singing again.

"Zuko is a creepy Fire Bender

With a scar over one eye!

And I'm the Avatar, so I can

Fly quite high!

And Iroh's Zuko's uncle,

He's a really good guy!"

Iroh chuckled happily, and Zuko looked disgusted. But Aang wasn't done yet.

"Because I was too gullible

I got myself caged!

And so I started singing

Which made Zuko raged!

And Iroh's a General,

He's middle aged!"

The reactions to this verse were much the same. But it wasn't over yet!

"The Fire Nation's trying to kill me!

They're pretty evil!

And Zuko's their Prince,

He says I'm a weevil.

I dunno what a weevil is!

Just that it rhymes with evil!"

"Zuko gave me that rhyme," he told a chortling Iroh. Zuko glared at them both, but Aang continued.

"I'm getting hungry!

I haven't had lunch!

All we've got is tea.

Iroh brought a bunch.

Zuko's getting extremely angry

And the bars, he will punch!

Iroh says that we'll have to

Wait two days!

Until the crew

Comes and saves (us)!

This isn't going to be easy to make fun

But I'll find some way!(s)!

We're gonna starve

If we don't find food soon!

And then I'll sing the song

'We Like the Moon'.

And if we get to hungry,

We'll eat a spoon!

"Clever rhyming, very clever!" Iroh praised, while Zuko continued to glower.

"Maybe Momo

Can find us some food!

He can slip through the bars,

He's a really small dude!

But Zuko doesn't like that idea!

He's really rude!

Or maybe Katara and Sokka

Will show up!

They know I shouldn't be gone long.

Maybe they'll think I threw up!

And when Sokka gets here,

He'll say 'What's up?'

Sokka and Katara

Are my friends!

And Katara knows how

To Water Bend!

And maybe Sokka will

To me his boomerang lend!"

"That wasn't a very good rhyme," Zuko complained.

"Sure it was!" retorted Aang. "I'm going to write a conclusion, but we have to wait until we get rescued, 'cause I don't know how it'll end."

"Actually, Sokka and Katara are on our ship," Iroh said. "Prince Zuko ordered the captured as soon as you left camp. There's not much hope of a rescue there."

Zuko sighed. "Well, we'll have to wait until the crew comes to rescue us."

"But that's _two_ days!" exclaimed Aang. "We'll starve!"

"Well, get your stupid lemur to go get food," snapped Zuko. "Since you're so excited by that prospect."

And he sad down against the bars of the cage, ignoring the world.

"Momo, go get food!" ordered Aang. Momo stared at him, cocking his head curiously.

"Food!" Aang mimed eating. "Food! Get!" Momo ran off.

"Well, that might work," said Iroh happily.

"If it does, it'll take _forever_," moaned Aang.

Zuko resolutely ignored both of them.

Again, hope nobody's too out of character. I own Aang's Song. I wrote it myself, and I am very proud, even though it sucks. Please review! I've almost got the next chapter finished, so I might get to post tomorrow. Have a happy today!


	3. NinetyNine Bottles of Beer on the Wall

A/N So it turns out I didn't have this written already. I'll be busy after school tomorrow, so I might not get to post, but I'll try. Hope you like this chapter, and I'm sure Aang isn't trying to encourage alcoholism in any way. Have a nice day!

"Momo! Food! Not flute! Not shoe! Not mouth guard! Not rubber duckie! Food!"

"Avatar, it's not going to work," said Zuko tiredly. "Lemurs just don't know how to play fetch… Uncle, what are you doing?"

Aang looked around to see the elderly general waving his hand in the air and hopping up and down. Iroh turned at the sound of his nephew's voice.

"I'm trying to reach those nuts," he explained, pointing at a tree. But I can't."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Uncle, it's not going to work," he said, not appearing to notice the repetition. "There's no way anyone could reach that. You'd have to be _ten times_ your size to…"

A sudden gust of wind that would have been a terrible plot device had there not been an Air Bender there showered nuts down into the two cages.

"Ouch!" Zuko exclaimed as one of the nuts hit him on the head. The others, gleefully gathering up the food and popping it into their mouths, ignored him.

"Do you know a song for this occasion, young Aang?" asked Iroh. Zuko groaned.

"Uncle, don't encourage the kid. He's insane. At this rate, he'll never stop singing."

As usual, he was ignored.

Aang frowned in concentration. "Erm, how about…

"Cheese, cheese, just a speck of…

"No, no, that's not quite right." He lapsed into a contemplative silence, one that Zuko found extremely refreshing, and Iroh found interesting.

"Nope," he said finally. "Can't think of anything that has to do with food or nuts. Sorry. But I did come up with this!"

"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall!

Ninety-nine bottles of _beer_!

You take one down

Pass it around

Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall!

Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall!

Ninety-eight bottles of _beer_!

You take one down

Pass it around

Ninety-seven bottles of beer on the wall!"

"Stop! Stop! We get it. People get drunk. Really, really drunk. You don't need to sing the whole song through, unless there's an unusual conclusion," Zuko told him. "And if there is… don't sing it anyways. We get it."

Aang frowned. "I don't know if there's any conclusion. I've actually never known anyone to get past sixty. The monks didn't really endorse that kind of song, so they usually stopped us before we got too far."

"What monks?" snapped Zuko, before he thought better of his curiosity.

"The monks of the Air Temple. They raised me."

"Well, that explains a lot," muttered the Fire Bender.

"Hey! _You're_ the serious, boring one!"

"I am _not_ boring."

"You are so!"

"Am not!"

"Are so!"

"Am not!"

"Are so!"

"Am not!"

"You're serious enough to cover for the entire Fire Nation!"

"Well, you're insane enough to cover for all the Air Nomads!"

"Serious!"

"Insane!"

"Serious!"

"In- oh, this is childish."

Aang grinned. "See? Now you're not quite as boring as you were before." Zuko groaned.

"I'm doomed to spend my entire life with imbecilic _madmen_!"

"What's imbecilic mean?" Aang asked Iroh.

"Like an imbecile," the old general explained.

The Avatar nodded. "Oh." He frowned. "What's an imbecile?"

Iroh refrained from rolling his eyes. Aang was smart, but he was used to Fire Nation children having a larger vocabulary, at least, when it came to insults, that is.

"You said it, you explain it," he told Zuko maturely.

Zuko glared at him. "No."

"Please?" asked Aang.

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Pleases aren't pretty."

"That would probably because please isn't a noun."

As usual, Zuko scowled, although the sides of his mouth seemed to be twitching slightly, Iroh noticed.

"How's this," suggested Aang. "I'll sing 'Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall' until you tell me."

Zuko snorted. "And how long will you be able to keep _that_ up?" he retorted.

"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall," Aang answered.

Ninety-nine bottles of _beer_!

You take one down.

Pass it around.

Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall!"

Iroh decided to take another nap.

When Iroh awoke, his nephew and the Avatar didn't seem to have gotten much further on resolving their conflict.

"Sixteen bottles of beer on the wall!

Sixteen bottles of _beer_!

You take one down.

Pass it around.

Fifteen bottles of beer on the wall!"

Zuko was wearing his usual scowl as he looked at the boy, but his lips seemed unusually pursed. Was he… humming?

"You take one down.

Pass it around.

Fourteen bottles of beer on the wall," the Fire Bender sang softly. Aang either decided that it was best to continue with his song pretending to be oblivious, or didn't notice Zuko singing along. Either way, he didn't react.

Zuko kicked himself. Really. Pretending to be on good terms with the Avatar was one thing, but joining in his imbecilic sing-alongs was quite another. He didn't even _like_ the song, Aan- the Avatar was just trying to annoy him. Which wouldn't work. But not because he liked it. Or him. He hated the kid and the song.

He was just singing along because it was stuck in his head, which was entirely Aan-the Avatar's fault. He was _not_ enjoying the song; he did _not_ like the Avatar in the slightest. They were enemies. He had to capture the Avatar to restore his honor, his way of life. He did _not_ find the boy remotely entertaining. He was insanely friendly, but that was not a good quality. Friendly annoying little kid was not the same thing as friend. Zuko didn't have any friends. Not that he wanted any, of course.

Still, he might as well try to shut the kid up and tell him what the word meant. If he even remembered what the question was… but it wouldn't do to have Aang… the Avatar… think that he could get what he wanted from Zuko by singing that annoying song about drunken idiots. 'Fools killing themselves,' as Azula had once put it.

He smiled slightly at the idea of thinking about his sister and his fri- the Avatar in the same context. Aang would have liked her, he would like anyone, but it would have been entertaining to see Azula's reaction to him.

Wait… had he just referred to him as Aang? He was the Avatar, not to be thought of as a person, merely an obstacle.

"Hey, Zuko?" asked Aang, suddenly breaking off from his song.

"Hm?" replied the prince, preoccupied.

"What's an imbecile?"

"A stupid person, wh… Oh." He flushed slightly, realizing that he had just told the Avatar exactly what he had wanted to know.

Aang giggled happily. "You j-ust told me, you j-ust told me," he singsonged.

Zuko glared at him. "Shut up," he snapped, and was hit in the face by a boot.

"Ow… _that stupid lemur_! I'll kill it!"

"Aww, come on," Aang teased. "Momo was just trying to feed you."

"I'm not hungry. And even if I was, I'd have to have been pretty starving to eat an old boot!"

Momo hopped up onto Aang's shoulder and chattered happily. Zuko threw a boot at him, but missed, and the lemur picked it up and bit it. Spitting out the piece, he continued his chatter, shaking his tiny fists at Zuko while Aang stroked him absentmindedly.

"Oh, I don't know, Nephew," chortled Iroh. "I've heard you say you were hungry enough to eat a boot before."

"Yeah, well, I'm not now. So drop it."

Momo dropped the boot.

Aang stared at them both. "Hey, Zuko!"

"What?"

"You just trained Momo!"

Zuko stared at the Air Bender and his pet lemur. "What? I did not!"

"Yeah, you did! You said 'drop it', and he dropped the boot."

"Coincidence," said Zuko airily, although he was really quite pleased with himself.

Aang handed Momo the boot. "Drop it," he ordered, mimicking Zuko's voice.

Momo dropped it.

"See?" he demanded. "He could never do that before. You trained him, Zuko!"

Zuko smiled.


	4. The Song of Randomness and Dixie Land

A/N **_READ THIS, OR YOU WON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON! _**

_Italics, like this mean someone's thoughts_

_Underlined italics means their thoughts, but the side of them that they don't usually show. I.E, Zuko's good side, Aang's bad side._

_**THIS WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR THE REST OF THE STORY! I HOPE YOU WERE PAYING ATTENTION!**_

"It's all over the pl-ace!

Even in your f-ace!

You're all tied up!

I have a cup!

I threw some bread at you!

And you threw bread at me too!

Lint!"

Aang finished his song and looked hopefully at the Fire Benders. Iroh was clapping, and Zuko was scowling, as usual. Aang had been trying to get the older boy to admit that he had smiled for the past two hours, with no luck. He was starting to wonder if he had just imagined the whole thing.

"Avatar?" asked Zuko. "You know how I said that the Llama Song was the most random thing I've ever heard? I've changed my mind. This is."

Aang grinned. "Well, that's why they call it 'The Song of Randomness'! But, actually, I think the Llama Song is randomer. Is that a word?"

"No, and this song is."

"The Llama Song is."

"Song of Randomness!"

"Llama Song!"

"Random!"

"Llama!"

"Random!"

"Llama!"

"Random!"

"Hey, you didn't say this was childish, or make rude comments about my intelligence and maturity, or lack of them!"

Zuko blinked at him. "So does that mean you admit that I'm right?"

"Nope!" Aang responded cheerfully.

"Nephew, I am surprised at you," Iroh told them. "You seem to be having a civil conversation with young Aang, accepting the situation for what it is. You're improving."

Zuko turned around and noticed him for the first time. He turned back to Aang. "Majority rules?" he asked.

"Fair enough," agreed the Avatar.

"What?" asked Iroh, confused.

"You decide which song is randomer," began Aang.

"Not a word," Zuko reminded him.

"And we'll abide by your decision," he finished.

"And stop arguing," added Zuko, knowing how to get to his uncle.

Iroh considered this. When Aang and Zuko weren't arguing, they were trying to kill each other (at least, Zuko was trying to kill Aang) or one was sulking, the other gloating. Still, while their argument hadn't been annoying, (it had been friendly, as Zuko went) it was nice of them to consult him. They almost seemed to be friends now, although their reaction to his decision would tell.

"Alright," he said finally. "I'll do it." And he lay down and began the process of falling asleep.

"What are you doing, Uncle?" demanded Zuko.

"I'm sleeping," Iroh answered, although he obviously wasn't. "I need my sleep to decide something this momentous."

The pair waited for a moment until he fell asleep. It was a very short moment, as Iroh was very quick to nod off. Then Zuko heard a snorting noise coming from the other cage. Turning around, he saw that the Avatar was also curled up, snoring loudly.

"What are _you_ doing?" he asked, as rudely as possible.

Aang looked up. "How did you know I wasn't asleep?"

"There's no _way_ that you snore that loudly," Zuko responded. "And besides, you kept opening one eye and closing it again really quickly. My question still stands, though. What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to see how your uncle falls asleep that quickly, and that often," explained Aang. "Let him lie down for two seconds and…" he made a snoring sound, which was echoed by Iroh.

Both boys laughed quietly. _What am I doing_? wondered Zuko. _He's the Avatar, my enemy. I decided I would pretend to like him, make him think I was his friend, but I'm getting too good at pretending. Now _I_ think I'm his friend. And I'm not. I hate him._

_Under normal situations, _whispered the side of his mind that listened to Uncle Iroh, the side Aang called his 'conscience'. _But this is different. You're stuck with him. No matter what. You've got to admit it, he's not a bad kid. _

_He's the Avatar! _ the sane, normal Zuko argued. _He's against everything the Fire Nation believes in. He's… he's… evil!_

_And you're good, I suppose? Face it, Zuko, the good guys don't try to kidnap or kill twelve-year-olds. The good guys don't attack women and children without warning. The good guys don't lay siege to cities. The good guys don't imprison people for having talents you fear._

_When did I do that?_

_You didn't. That was where the Earth Benders were all kept, far away from any land that they could bend. That wasn't you. That was your father._

_My father is _not_ evil! Go away!_

_I can't, and you know it. Like it or not, Zuko, you have a conscience. Me. And that's what makes you different from your father, or Zhao, or any of the others back home. That's why you're out here instead of safely inside Fire Nation, going through normal adolescent struggles without having to worry about the Avatar._

_NO, IT'S NOT!_

"Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton!

Old times there are not forgotten.

Look away!

Look away!

Look away!

Dixie land!"

"What?" demanded Zuko, for the umpteenth time that day.

"What, what?" retorted Aang. "I'm singing."

"As usual," sighed Zuko, resigned to both Aang's singing and never being able to finish the conversation with… himself. Okay, maybe this was a _good_ thing. He'd been with Iroh and Aang for too long, he was starting to go crazy.

_Considering that your opinion of normal is a homicidal murderer, and your role model is the same, maybe that's a good thing too,_ put in his conscience.

_I'm sixteen. I'm too old to have a role model._

_Then stop trying to imitate random homicidal murderers. Or you'll grow up to be just like them. Oh, wait… too late!_

Zuko wished his conscience would shut up.

A/N Okay, I'm done with this chapter. Thanks to all of you who reviewed, Note to Amberhawk: Yes, Zuko _did_ smile, I know he doesn't do that on a normal basis, but he's going through 'emotional growth'. At least, that's what my mom would say, she's a psychologist, so I guess she's going to be the one to understand Zuko best, he needs one. They all do.

_**HEY, PEOPLE! I'VE GOT A QUESTION ABOUT HOW TO WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER! RESPOND, AND GET TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO WITHOUT BEING YELLED AT!**_

Okay, so there's the Llama Song, and there's the Song of Randomness, courtesy of my little brother, he owns it, not me. So, let me ask you, which one do _you_ think is randomer? Or, which one would Iroh think is randomer? Majority rules, so vote on it, and maybe I'll actually be able to make the next chapter something that isn't stalling.


	5. The Song That Never Ends

The Song of Randomness," announced Iroh. Zuko cheered and Aang made a face at him while his uncle scolded him for immaturity. Momo decided that they were all very weird, and ate a bug.

"Do you realize that we've been here for a day now?" asked Aang.

"Good, if we can survive tomorrow, we get to leave," muttered Zuko.

"This calls for a celebration!" decided Iroh.

"And a song!" agreed Aang.

"And a nap," retorted Zuko, and curled up and went to sleep.

While Zuko napped, Aang prepared his song, Iroh found a few more nuts lying around, and Momo ate another bug.

An Undefined Time Punctured by Nuts, Songs, Naps, and Bugs Later…

  
"This is a song that never ends!

It just goes on and on my friends!

Some people… started singing it

Not knowing what it was

And ended up singing for_ever_ 'cause…

This is the song that never ends!

It just goes on and on my friends!

Some people…"

Zuko rolled over and groaned, burying his head in blankets. Aang continued singing, oblivious, and Iroh ate nuts and clapped. Momo, intrigued by the antics of these odd humans, ate a bug.

"And ended up singing for_ever_ 'cause…

This is the song that never ends!

It just goes on and on my friends!

Some people… started singing it

Not knowing what it was

And ended up singing for_ever_ 'cause…"

Insane. These people were insane. Just one more day. And by then, _he'd_ be insane. He was already talking to himself and believing that he had a conscience, maybe it was too late for him. Great.

"Some people… started singing it

Not knowing what it was

And ended up singing for_ever_ 'cause…"

Lovely. He was going to die here, or at least, his sanity was, and all because of the Avatar's singing. He was going to die because of a stupid kid, his pet lemur, and his songs. And what was worse, this was when Aang was trying to be _nice_ to him. Zuko would never want to get on his bad side. Although, then maybe he wouldn't be singing…

In Another Place an Undefined Distance Away While Aang's Singing, Zuko's Napping, Iroh's Clapping (Hey, That Rhymed!) And Momo's Eating Bugs…

"This is boring," announced Sokka.

"Really? I hadn't realized. I thought we were having _the time of our lives_, locked up in a dungeon on Zuko's stupid old ship, where the stupid old stuck up prince won't even show up to tell us why he captured us. Fun, fun, fun. I thought we were having fun."

Sokka stared at his sister. "You're getting as sarcastic as me," he commented.

In response, Katara lashed some water from a bowl nearby at the wall.

"Hey, I was going to drink that," complained her brother.

Katara tossed the water back into the bowl and stalked over to the other side of the room, completely ignoring him.

They sat in silence for a while, while Sokka contemplated what to do about this situation. Katara, obviously, was annoyed. Probably more at Zuko for kidnapping them than at him for stating the obvious, but that didn't make her annoyance any less… annoyed. He needed to get a thesaurus.

Finally, Sokka decided that his sister's annoyance was better than his own boredom.

"I wonder what happened to Appa," he muttered, by way of conversation.

Katara brightened considerably. "Maybe he'll come rescue us!" she suggested.

Sokka sighed. Sometimes Katara could be as naïve as Aang.

"Yeah, _sure_, Katara. We're locked up in the bottom of a ship full of Fire Benders, and we're going to be rescued by a flying bison. Dream on."

His sister scowled at him for ruining her happy idea. "Well, maybe he'll find Aang, and _Aang_ will rescue us," she snapped.

"And how, pray tell, with a bison manage to convey that we're in trouble?"

"Aang's not an idiot, Sokka. We've been missing for an entire day. By now, he's probably figured out that something's up."

"Yeah. So we'll be rescued by a twelve-year old?"

"He's the Avatar!"

"He's twelve. He'll probably just get himself captured and then we'll _all_ die."

Katara glared at him. "Pessimist."

"Optimist," retorted Sokka, and the two sat in silence for a while. A few crashes sounded from upstairs.

"What d'ya think that is?" asked Sokka.

"Fire Benders being stupid and clumsy," responded Katara. "Why?"

Sokka shrugged. "Just making conversation."

"It's getting closer," she said suddenly, interrupting her own retort. She got up and went over to the bars, listening intently.

First there were more crashes, then shouts, then… a roar.

Sokka sat up. "That's Appa!" he exclaimed.

"No way!" shouted Katara, but was proved wrong when the flying bison himself charged into the room.

Appa grabbed the door in his teeth and ripped it out, throwing it at the Fire Bender behind him. Neither of the Water Tribe siblings bothered to wonder what had happened to all the others, dismissing it with faith in the strength of Appa, rather than the incompetence of Zuko's crew.

"No way!" Sokka echoed, as the two reverted into their usual roles.

"Come on!" Katara ordered, climbing up on the bison.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," complained her brother. "He just _turns up_? Right after we discussed how he couldn't? There is _no way_…"

"Maybe he heard our voices!" suggested Katara excitedly.

"From where?" Sokka the skeptic demanded.

"Maybe he was swimming next to the ship, wondering if this was the right one!"

"Or, maybe, he wasn't!"

Now Katara was beginning to get annoyed. "Sokka, just get on, okay?"

"Fine. But I still think that this is an extreme coincidence, and I'm going to wake up very soon."

"Would you like me to pinch you?" his sister asked sweetly.

"No! You always pinch too hard!"

"Well, you always think anything extraordinary is a dream!"

"And you always get involved in all this _weird_ magic stuff. It's creepy."

"_You're_ creepy! I mean, _come on_! Why aren't you adjusted to this yet?"

Sokka climbed up onto Appa and poked her.

"Who's creepy now?"

"Now you're creepy _and_ a creep!"

Appa gave a loud roar, indicating that they should stop fighting while on his back. The trio charged outside, ignoring moaning Fire Benders strewn across the deck. With a cheerful 'yip-yip' from Katara, the bison took off.

"Let's go find Aang!" called the Water Bender.

"Let's hope that Appa knows where Aang _is_!" retorted Sokka.

"Let's really, really hope that, or we'll just be going in circles!"

Appa roared.

"I don't think he knows where Aang is," Katara said.

Sokka leaned back in the saddle. "Great," he muttered. "Just great."

Meanwhile, in the Place Where They Wanted To Be, Which Is the Place Where Aang, Zuko, and Iroh are, Along With Momo and the Cages and Other Miscellaneous Creatures Who Don't Participate in this Story…

Momo ate a bug.

A/N: Aah, freakishness. The story of my life. With Katara and Sokka out, this story will soon be drawing to a close. Sorry. Not much else I can say about this chapter, except that I hope you like it and please review, and I'm sorry for not updating yesterday. I was busy, and had writer's block.


	6. The Song that Gets on Everybody's Nerves

A/N Once again,

_These are people's thoughts_

_These are the thoughts of their opposite side, Zuko's good side, Aang's bad side._

Just making sure you remember. On with the story!

Okay, maybe getting Aang mad at him was not such a good idea, Zuko mused. The stupid kid hadn't stopped singing, he had realized that he could use it as a weapon. And now Momo was pelting him with nuts.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!

Everybody's nerves!

Everybody's nerves!

I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!

And this is how it goes!

(Bum bum bum)

I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!

Everybody's nerves!

Everybody's nerves!

I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!

And this is how it goes!

(Bum bum bum)

I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!

Everybody's nerves!

Everybody's nerves!

I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!

And this is how it goes!

(Bum bum bum)"

Zuko covered his ears. That didn't really work, because Momo began pelting him with nuts again until he removed them. That lemur had very good aim. Not only did he never miss the _prince_, he never missed his _hands_.

Great. So he was not only doomed to die and lose his sanity here, he was doomed to do it while being pelted with nuts. Who knew having a twelve-year-old and his pet lemur mad at you would be so dangerous?

_This is fun_! Aang's evil side commented gleefully.

_He's learned his lesson, let's be nice to him,_ suggested his good side.

_Never! He's already driven me to the point of insanity!_

_What makes you say that?_

_I'm talking to myself, duh._

_At least you're only doing it silently,_ his good side soothed. _After all, you could be doing it aloud._

_Yeah, yeah, really comforting. Now shut up and let me bug him to death._

_Can I really stop you?_

_Nope!_

Both sides sat in silence, although they weren't exactly sitting as they weren't physical beings, and since they really were Aang, and he was still singing, it wasn't really silence, either. So let me cut out the incorrect parts of that phrase. Both sides. Okay, never mind.

Zuko glanced up, interested, as Momo stopped pelting him. As he did, however, a nut-shaped rock hit him in the nose. The lemur had only shortly paused to eat a bug.

"Everybody's nerves!

I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!

And this is how it goes!

(Bum bum bum)

I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!

Everybody's nerves!

Everybody's nerves!

I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!

And this is how it goes!

(Bum bum bum)"

_I wonder why Momo likes eating bugs so much._

_He's a lemur, what do you expect?_

_Yeah, but still. There's gotta be something in it._

_How do you know?_

_Because otherwise, he wouldn't be constantly eating them!_

_I guess._

Another short not-silence, followed by,

_Maybe we should try one._

This silence was not so not-silent, as Aang stopped singing to consider this.

_Hmm. Maybe._

Another moment of consideration, followed by a short discussion on the topic, and the Avatar bent down and picked up a bug.

"What are you doing?" demanded Zuko.

Aang popped the bug into his mouth.

"Eww, gross!" squealed the Fire Bender. "Uh, I mean, what was _that_ about?"

Aang chewed thoughtfully.

"Avatar? What are you doing?"

Aang swallowed.

"What _was_ that thing?"

Aang stared off into space.

"Was that a bug?" Zuko asked suspiciously.

"Mmm-hmm!" Aang nodded happily.

"Gross!" this time he didn't bother to correct himself. "Why'd you _do_ that?"

"Momo liked it so much, I thought there must be something to it," explained the Air Bender.

"Was there?" asked Zuko, deciding not to ask how Aang had gotten to the idea of eating bugs because a lemur did.

_No! EW, ew, ew! That was disgusting!_

_Maybe it's a lemur thing. Although I actually liked it._

_You **liked** it? Why?_

_Because it tastes good, _his good side explained.

_But it doesn't! Why would you ever want to eat a thing like that?_

Aang mentally shrugged.

_Why?_

_I guess because I like it. Maybe it's an acquired taste._

_Erm, hello? We're the same person! How could you have acquired a taste that I haven't?_

_Maybe I'm the side that got all the memories from past lives._

_Why you?_

_I dunno, I guess I'm the good side._

_What makes you think that? How do you know **you're** the good side and not me? What makes **you** so special?_

_Because I'm the nice one. The good side doesn't endorse torturing Zuko._

_By **singing! **Seriously, how is that tourture? He needs to lighten up!_

_Yeah, well, it's not really his fault. I guess they never had singing lessons in Fire Nation._

_How do you know? I've known plenty of Fire Nation people who could sing perfectly well._

_Who do you know that I don't? Besides, that was a hundred years ago. _

_So? Why change a good tradition?_

_Because they're **bad guys**! Bad guys don't sing!_

_What makes you so sure of that? Why shouldn't bad guys sing?_

_Because… oh, never mind!_

_Ha! You give up!_

_I do not! I was just going to tell you who could answer this question for us, but if you'd rather I didn't…_

_Okay, okay, who?_

_Zuko, you moron!_

_Oh, yeah… Hey, I thought you were the nice one!_

"Zuko?" asked Aang.

"What?" he demanded.

"Have you ever had singing lessons?"

Zuko blinked at him. "Avatar, I will never understand you."

"Yeah, that wasn't the question," Aang answered impatiently. "Have you?"

"NO! Why would I ever have had _singing lessons_?"

"You've never had singing lessons? Not even just from a friend? Or a sibling? Do you have any siblings?"

"A sister, what does that have to do with it?"

"Why didn't _she_ teach you to sing?"

Zuko sighed. "Avatar, I'm sure Azula had better things to do even when we were children than to teach me to sing. And I'm sure I had better things to do than learn to sing. Actually, although I'm sure she'd be good at it, I don't remember anyone ever teaching _her_ to sing, either."

"Neither of you knew how to sing?" Aang couldn't hide his disbelief. "I mean, Katara was the first person who ever tried to teach me how to, but I'd always sung _something_ when I was little. Didn't you ever sing along with whoever was singing nursery rhymes and such?"

"What are nursery rhymes?" asked Zuko.

Aang sighed. "The Fire Nation has severely neglected your education," he said sternly. And as he said that, he formed a plan to save Zuko from falling to the musiclessness of the Fire Nation.

Momo ate no bugs. Because Momo had disappeared.

Hope you liked that! Any suggestions, ect., review. Obviously. By the way, does anyone know if Azula's older or younger than Zuko? I'm not sure if I'll even ever mention her again, but just in case, I'd like to know, and besides, I'm curious. Thanks to my reviewers, have a happy today!


	7. Momo the Songless

A/N As this chapter is entirely from Momo's point of view, there are a few terms that he uses that we… don't. Most are self-explanatory, but in case they aren't, Food-boy is Sokka, nice Water-girl is Katara, the grumpy Fire-boy is Zuko, the grumpy Fire-boy's Uncle is Iroh, and the Air-kid is Aang. Also, foot-cover means shoe.

Momo glided one more time in a circle over the forest, and perched on a branch to rest. No bison, no nice Water-girl, no Food-boy.

He sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent of any of his friends, but he couldn't find anything. Perhaps the recent rain had washed it away. Or perhaps what the grumpy Fire-boy's Uncle had said was true, and they had been captured. But Momo had a feeling that they weren't, and lemur instincts are very trustworthy.

He only hoped that the Air-kid was doing alright on his own. He depended on Momo, to bring him nuts and nut-shaped rocks, and to throw things at the grumpy Fire-boy when he was being mean. But the Air-kid had to learn to survive without his lemur. Momo wouldn't be around forever, after all.

With another sniff, Momo chose a random direction and flew off, hoping that the bison, the nice Water-girl, and the Food-boy were coming towards him from the same direction. Maybe he'd get lucky. After all, he'd been lucky before, when the Air-kid had caught him before the Food-boy. Or that time he'd been hungry, and a bug had landed right in his mouth.

Yes, Momo could be lucky from time to time. But right now, it didn't appear that he was going to be lucky. The bison scent should have re-appeared after the rain if the bison had come this way, but by now, it was obvious that he hadn't. Momo sighed as well as a lemur could and landed on a rock.

Well, what had the grumpy Fire-boy's Uncle said?

"Actually, Sokka and Katara are on our ship. Prince Zuko ordered them captured as soon as you left camp. There's not much hope of a rescue there."

Momo scratched at the rock in concentration.

_Let's see,_ he mused. _It seems like the words I don't understand are Sokka, Katara, and PrinceZuko._

_Well,_ reasoned his other side, _Where else have we heard those words?_

Momo scratched the rock again, concentrating hard. In fact, he was concentrating so hard, that a bug flew past uneaten.

"_Maybe Momo_

_Can find us some food!_

_He can slip through the bars,_

_He's a really small dude!_

_But Zuko doesn't like that idea!_

_He's really rude!_

_Or maybe Katara and Sokka _

_Will show up!_

_They know I shouldn't be gone long._

_Maybe they'll think I threw up!_

_And when Sokka gets here,_

_He'll say 'What's up?'_

_Sokka and Katara_

_Are my friends!_

_And Katara knows how_

_To Water Bend!_

_And maybe Sokka will_

_To me his boomerang lend!"_

_Well, that helps,_ complained Momo. _What's 'Momo' mean? Or 'boomerang'? Or 'dude'?_

_I've never heard 'dude' before,_ admitted his other side, _But listen._

_And Katara knows how_

_To Water Bend!_

_See? Water Bend is what they say when they're talking about what the nice Water-girl does with… Water._

_And that means what, exactly?_

_The nice Water-girl is Katara!_

_I think I remember hearing 'Momo' before, too,_ he added. _Let's see…_

"You just trained Momo!"

_See? What do you think that means?_

_Well, we threw a foot-cover at him, so maybe Momo is a foot-cover!_

_Well that doesn't help,_Momo said, disappointed.

_Don't worry,_ his other side cheered him up. _I'm sure there are other words there that we can figure out. See? That song had the word Sokka as well as PrinceZuko. _

So who would have 'shown up' with the nice Water-girl? Both sides concentrated hard enough that three more bugs passed uneaten.

The bison? The Food-boy? Well, which would the grumpy Fire-boy's Uncle be more likely to refer to?

Humans didn't really talk about capturing one human and one bison. Besides, it would be hard to capture the bison, hard enough that whatever PrinceZuko was, it wouldn't order the crew to do so.

So Sokka must be the Food-boy! Of course!

_Good!_

_So what's PrinceZuko?_

_It doesn't really matter, does it? Whatever it is, it ordered someone to capture the Food-boy and the nice Water-girl and put them on a ship. Ship means water, like the grumpy Fire-boy's ship._

_Hey, maybe PrinceZuko is the grumpy Fire-boy!_

_Of course!_ Now both of them were getting excited. _So he ordered the Food-boy and the nice Water-girl to be captured…_

_Which means they're on the ship!_

_But where's the bison?  
_

_Well, that would explain why we couldn't smell him, wouldn't it? He's on the ship!_

_So do you think Sokka is really the bison? _Momo asked skeptically.

_No,_ he admitted. _But maybe the grumpy Fire-boy's Uncle just didn't mention the bison._

_I suppose it's possible,_ he agreed. _But it doesn't really matter, does it? Somebody's on that ship, so we should head for water!_

_But they got off the ship, remember?_ the side that listened to instincts more pointed out.

_I suppose. But they'll still be near water!_

Finally in agreement, Momo hurried off, looking for the bison.

Time passed, as it often does. And after a period of time had passed, Momo caught a bison scent.

_Here he is!_

His other side didn't respond, so Momo ate a bug and flew on.

"Hey, look! There's Momo!" cried the Food-boy's voice from the bison's back.

_Why are they referring to a foot-cover at a time like this? _Wondered Momo.

_I have no idea. Humans are weird._

"Here, Momo. C'mer, boy," called the nice Water-girl.

_Even she's doing it! I can't believe this! We finally find them, and are willing to show them where the Air-kid is, and all they want to talk about is a foot-cover! I'm going home._

_Now, now. We've still got to rescue the Air-kid. Wait… maybe **we're** Momo._

_They named us after a foot-cover? The indignation!_

_No, no! They named us Momo, and Momo was never the name of a foot-cover!_

_So what's a foot-cover called?_

_Never mind that! C'mon, let's go. I'm tired, and the bison looks like a good place to land._

"Momo!" the nice Water-girl hugged him, while both sides of Momo exchanged smug comments on what cuteness earns them.

"Momo, find Aang," commanded the Food-boy.

_What is 'Aang'? Why do they want us to find this 'Aang'? What about the Air-kid?_

_Oh, well. The bison's going the right direction for now. We'll warn them if he takes a wrong turn. For now, let's see if they have any food._

"What could he be looking for," wondered the nice Water-girl as Momo began nosing around the packs.

"I have no idea," the Food-boy told her. "But if he doesn't find Aang soon…"

"Sokka, forget it," she told him. "Momo will help us, won't you, Momo?"

"What do you mean, he'll help us? How is this helping us? Aang's not on Appa, how is this helping us?"

"You asked that twice," the nice Water-girl pointed out.

"And you sound like Aang," retorted the Food-boy, sitting back down.

"Maybe this means we're on the right track," suggested the nice Water-girl.

"Optimist," complained the Food-boy.

"Pessimist," retorted the nice Water-girl

_Hey, he's supposed to turn here, _exclaimed Momo.

_What do we do, what do we do?  
_

_We get off and fly in the right direction. Maybe the humans will take a hint!_

Although both sincerely doubted it, they got off and began soaring towards the Air-kid, the grumpy Fire-boy, and the grumpy Fire-boy's Uncle.

"Hey, where's he going?" demanded the Food-boy.

"He's leading us to them!" exclaimed the nice Water-girl. "Good Momo, good Momo!"

_I certainly hope Momo is us, and not a foot-cover. _

_Don't worry. The nice Water-girl understands what's going on too well to yammer on about a foot-cover at a time like this._

_I suppose._

"Follow him, Appa!" cried the Food-boy.

If indeed he was referring to the bison, this statement was entirely useless, as the bison was already doing just that.

"I hope Aang's alright," worried the nice Water-girl.

"He'll be fine," the Food-boy assured her.

_First foot-covers, now this 'Aang' of theirs, _mused Momo. _What is Aang, and why aren't they worried about the Air-kid?_


	8. Row Your Boat and the Fuzziest Slippers

"Pleease?"

"No.

"Please?"

"No!"

"Please?"

"No! No, no, never, no, not in a million years!" Zuko snapped.

Aang frowned and said in response to this outburst, "Please?"

"Avatar, I already told you, I told you a million times, no! No, no, definitely not, no!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"C'mon, Zuko, it'll be fun!"

"No!"

"You've got to try it at least once," Aang pointed out.

"No I don't," Zuko replied stubbornly.

"Please?"

"Avatar, nothing you say or do will make me want to learn to _sing_!"

"Why not," pouted Aang.

"Why not? _Why not_? It's idiotic! Stupid! Horrendous! Pointless! Embarrassing!"

"But its fun," protested Aang.

"It's a meaningless, inane, frivolous, childish, immature, absurd, illogical, strange, moronic, incongruous, inappropriate, unreasonable, irrational, bad, awkward, thwarting, dimwitted, _brainless _activity invented by idiots with nothing better to do than repeat meaningless lyrics for the annoyance of others," Zuko told him calmly.

There was a long pause.

"You said meaningless twice," Aang pointed out.

"What?"

"You said 'It's a _meaningless_' (all that other stuff) 'activity invented by…' (more stuff) 'with nothing better to do than repeat _meaningless_ lyrics…' (the rest of that stuff)."

"Do you know what's meaningless?" asked Zuko.

"No, what?"

"YOU!"

While Aang pouted, Iroh put in his two cents. "You wouldn't think singing was all those things, Prince Zuko, if you ever came to music night."

"Uncle," snarled Zuko, trying to keep from yelling. "Shut up."

Now, as it was Iroh's turn to pout, it was Aang's turn to comment.

"C'mon, Zuko, it'll be fun," he repeated.

"I do not see what is so 'fun' about straining your voice to say 'la la la' repetitively. It's a stupid waste of time. As is talking to you, so I would like you do to what my uncle is and shut up."

Iroh's turn again. "Zuko, won't you even consider trying?"

"NO!" he shouted.

"Why not?" asked Aang. "It'll be fun. I still can't believe you've never tried to sing before! Singing's the sort of thing you have to try at least once!"

"What is so great about singing?" demanded Zuko in a strained voice.

"It's fun."

"Yes, we seem to have covered that point," Zuko said sarcastically.

"It's relaxing," Iroh told him. "You need some relaxation in your life, Prince Zuko."

"Uncle, I _do not_ need to relax. I am fine. I do not need to sing. Leave me alone."

"Please?" Aang had started up his previous tactic again.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please"

"_No_"

"Please?"

"No!"

"Pl_ease_."

"NO…"

"Please?"

"_NO!"_

"Please!"

"No!"

"Please?"

"_**NO!"**_

"Please?"

"NO."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Avatar…"

"Please"

"_**NO! FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS SANE IN THIS WORLD, NO, NO NO!"**_

"Please?"

"No!"

"Aww, why not?" asked Aang. Iroh was impressed. The Avatar was a very stubborn child.

"Exiled princes of the Fire Nation do not sing, they hunt Avatars," Zuko said through gritted teeth.

There was a pause, followed by "Please?"

"NO!"

"I've already told you what you need to sing," Aang pointed out. "It's not that hard. I promise I won't laugh. There's no need to be nervous."

"Avatar, the reason I do not want to sing is not for the preservation of my nerves, it is for the preservation of my sanity. No."

"Would you prefer to sing something easier? Here's one. It has practically no tune at all. You basically just have to say it!"

"Row, row, row your boat.

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily.

Life is but a dream."

Zuko stared at him. "Life is but a dream? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I guess it means life is dreamlike and good," Aang replied with the innocence and cheerfulness that was his trademark.

"It's not," Zuko told him bluntly. "And that song's stupid."

Aang frowned. "Alright, let me think of another one…"

"Avatar, for the last time, I do not want to sing! I do not want to hear you sing, I do not want to learn to sing!"

"Then what _do_ you want to do?" complained Aang.

"I _want_ to be left in peace!" He stalked off to the other side of the cage, sat down, and proceeded to ignore him.

Iroh leaned over to Aang. "I think he needs a song that fits him better."

The boy frowned in concentration. "Hmm… They didn't teach us that many songs for depressed, evil people. Monks don't sing that kind of stuff."

"What _do_ monks sing?" asked Iroh curiously, deciding to ignore the reference to his nephew being evil.

Aang shrugged. "Most sing religious songs and stuff, but my mentor, Monk Gyatso sung a lot of… different things. Like the Llama Song. He was… unique."

Iroh blinked. "He seems like a very interesting person. You'll have to tell me about him sometime, but for now, we have to worry about find a song that Zuko will actually sing."

Aang frowned, concentrating. "Hmm… Oh, here's one!"

"The fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

The fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

I have the fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

'Cause my slippers are very fuzzy!"

He grinned at Iroh. "My friend Bumi taught me that one. He's King of Omashu now, but he still thinks he has the fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood. I'm not quite sure about that, but I've never really bothered to check. Maybe I should sometime…"

While he pondered the idea of going around and asking everyone in Omashu if they would show him their fuzziest slippers, Iroh pondered whether or not that song correctly represented Zuko.

"I guess not," he sighed finally. "I just can't picture Zuko singing about fuzzy slippers."

Aang giggled as he tried to picture just that. "I guess you're right. Too bad, though, that would be very entertaining."

Iroh grinned. "It would, wouldn't it," he commented. "Perhaps one day, when Prince Zuko is not quite so… temperamental, we can get him to sing about fuzzy slippers. But for now, let's stick to something serious."

"Okay," sighed Aang. He tried to remember all the serious songs he knew. All were either depressing enough that he didn't really want to hear them, or just didn't fit Zuko any more than a song about fuzzy slippers. Finally, though, he came across a song somewhere in the deepest reaches of his memory.

"I've got it!" he cried.

A/N I own The Fuzziest Slippers. I made it up myself. Somehow, I can just picture the King of Omashu singing that. Can anyone think of a song that Zuko would actually sing? I certainly can't, or this chapter would be longer. Please tell me if you can. I'm very stuck.


	9. Zuko's Song

A/N I'm very sorry to say that as of now, my computer has messed up so that all your lovely review don't appear on my reviews page, even if I do get email notification of them. So I'll take this opportunity to thank you all profusely, and tell you that I'll respond as soon as possible. My extreme thanks go to hart of flames, who came up with Zuko's song for this chapter. I preformed some minor editing on it, but it completely belongs to her. Thank you.

I only have two or three chapters left, although after I'm done, I'm thinking of trying a more serious story about a bunch of OC Benders. But until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and have a happy today.

"_I've got it," he cried…_

We'll _write_ a song," Aang explained.

"Write one?" Iroh asked blankly. Curious, Zuko turned around and watched the pair intently.

"So, we'll start out like this…" began Aang, reciting a line or two of his invented song.

"Absolutely not," insisted Zuko. "I'm not singing that. Actually, I'm not going to sing _anything_, so you two are wasting my time."

Aang considered his options for a moment. "Zuko," he said finally, "if you sing something for us, then for the remainder of our time here together, I won't sing at all."

"Not at all?" asked Zuko suspiciously.

"Not in the least."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart."

"Hope to die?"

"I'm not suicidal, Zuko. I personally hope to live, but I do promise," Aang told him.

The prince decided to accept the Avatar at his word. After all, he doubted the young Air Bender even knew the meaning of deception.

"Alright, but on one condition."

"What?" asked Aang, sounding tired with Zuko's attempts to get out of singing.

"I get to write the song."

"Okay."

"And it doesn't have to rhyme."

"Doesn't have to rhyme."

Zuko stared at him suspiciously for a moment, then said, "Deal."

"Deal," agreed Aang. It suddenly occurred to him that, even without singing, he could certainly annoy Zuko out of his wits if he became too stuck-up. After all, all he had to do was repeat everything the Fire Bender said. Not that he was planning to suddenly try to annoy Zuko, but still, it was good to have a plan in reserve.

_**AN UNDEFINED AMOUNT OF TIME LATER, WHICH IS UNDEFINED BECAUSE THEY HAD NO WAY OF TELING TIME, SO THAT ALL THEY KNEW WAS THAT IT WAS LONGER THAN A MINUTE, BUT LESS (MUCH, MUCH LESS) THAN A DAY…**_

"Alright," Zuko said. "I've got it."

"I know the most annoying kid

In the world.

His name is Aang the Avatar.

When around him I'm afraid I'll lose my sanity.

'Cause his stupid songs are so annoying.

They'll drive anyone

Insane.

I cannot believe I'm

Singing.

This is so pointless.

And so stupid.

And so childish.

And so meaningless.

So I think

I will stop now so I can kill

The Avatar for making me sing"

"Gee, thanks," Aang said sarcastically.

Iroh took a more literal interpretation of the song. "Now, Prince Zuko, you know the Fire Nation wants the Avatar alive. As much as young Aang may sing, you cannot kill him."

Zuko stared at him, flabbergasted that anyone could assume that he had really meant that. Seeing from his expression that he wouldn't be doing any explaining, Aang took it upon himself to explain the situation to Iroh.

"No, Iroh, I don't think Zuko meant he really wants to kill me. Well, I'm sure he did, but as much as he wants do, I doubt he will."

Iroh didn't seem to take that as much comfort, but decided to take a nap.

"He only sleeps that much when deprived of tea," explained Zuko in a whisper.

Aang nodded, but seemed slightly subdued, so he added, "Avatar? I didn't really mean I wanted to kill you. Well, I do but… you were right, I won't."

Aang grinned. "I know. I'm just trying to think of other ways to annoy you out of your wits now that I can't sing anymore."

"If you couldn't handle not singing, you shouldn't have made the deal," retorted Zuko rudely.

"I didn't say I couldn't handle it!" protested Aang. "And besides, I didn't think you would actually _do_ it!"

"Well I did," replied Zuko.

"I noticed," Aang responded sarcastically. He sighed in boredom for a moment, as he didn't want to use his mimicking tactic until Zuko got really annoying. Then he had an idea.

Zuko glanced curiously over at the Avatar. Now what was he doing? Oh, no. He was whistling.

Iroh sat bolt upright. "What's that?" he asked. "Is someone making tea?"

Aang stopped whistling as the old general looked over at him, and Zuko said sweetly, "No, Uncle, you must have imagined it."

"Hmm, I suppose you're right," Iroh muttered, laying back down again. "It…. sounded… just like… boiling water…" And he fell asleep.

Aang and Zuko looked at each other for a moment. Then, suddenly, Zuko pursed his lips and began whistling.

Iroh sat up again, certain he had heard a tea kettle boiling _this_ time. But when he looked suspiciously over at the two boys, half-suspecting them of pranking him, his nephew and the Avatar were talking calmly, something about a Fire Nation game that Aang had played when he was younger.

_Ah, well _decided Iroh. _At least the two of them are getting along now. Even if their previous fights seem to have cost me my sanity. I _must_ be imagining that tea kettle._

As soon as he was asleep, both boys started whistling simultaneously.

Sitting up for the third time, Iroh demanded, "Didn't you two hear that? It sounded just like _two_ tea kettles!"

"Two tea kettles?" asked Aang innocently.

"Boiling," explained Iroh.

"No, Uncle, I didn't hear anything," Zuko said with even more innocence than his friend. "Did you, Aang?"

"No," Aang said, shaking his head. "Not a thing."

"Perhaps we should have you checked out by a doctor when we get back to the ship, Uncle," Zuko suggested. "If you're hearing things, maybe there's something we can do about it."

Iroh glared at him. "I'm fine," he snapped, and lay back down.

Before he managed to go back to sleep, though, he heard the pair giggling.

_Oh, so _that's_ what it is,_ he decided. _Just the boys goofing off._

_Kill them all!_

_Nonsense. They're good boys, and it's good for Zuko to finally have a normal friend._

_Oh, yeah, the Avatar's **completely **normal. Just about as normal as Zuko himself!_

_Well, it's good for him to have a friend that he can act normal around, _Iroh amended to himself. _Perhaps he'll start acting a little less obsessive now that he's got a friend._

_You seem to have forgotten that that **friend** is the Avatar, the one who caused all of this._

_Inadvertently._

_Zuko doesn't see it that way._

_He does now. _

_For how long _his nastier side demanded. _You know Zuko, sooner or later, he's going to remember who he is and who Aang is. _

_Well, until then, we're stuck together, and it's certainly must easier on me if the two of them are getting along._

As there wasn't much room for argument on that statement, his other side shut up.

If any of them had known that Katara and Sokka were almost there, perhaps they would have seen the situation differently.


	10. Bojabe, or Whatever Its Called

A/N Hope you like this chapter and all that, it was done entirely with my little brother behind me pulling my hair and my dad ignoring him. I have no idea where that song came from, just that my friend Tina sings it a lot.

"I know a song

It's not very long

It goes like this, you see.

It's kind of snappy

Makes me happy.

Ends with Bojabe.

Hey!"

"What's 'Bojabe' mean?" asked Zuko. For once, he didn't sound scornful of Aang's song, only curious.

Aang shrugged. "I dunno. I've always guessed it was a nonsense word, but Bumi never told me. I never really asked, either. I just commented on how well that song fit him."

"Kind of snappy, makes me happy?" joked Zuko. "I think just about everything would make him happy."

"Do you know Bumi?" asked Aang curiously.

Now it was Zuko's turn to shrug. "I met him, once. He's the King of Omashu, right?"

Aang nodded. "He was one of my best friends when we were younger."

"But that must mean he's…"

"One hundred and eleven years old. Only a year younger than me," Aang told him proudly.

Zuko shook his head. "I still can't get used to the fact that a little boy is older than my grandfather."

"I'm _not_ little," Aang protested. "I'm only four years younger than you! And that's not even my _real_ age, I'm really…"

"One hundred and twelve, I know, I know," Zuko answered. "Sorry, I can't get used to the fact that you're not a little boy either."

"Well you should," Aang retorted, but not very angrily. There was a pause, and then Zuko said:

"Didn't he make up The Fuzzy Slipper Song too?"

Aang blinked. "How'd you know about The Fuzzy Slipper Song?"

"I overheard you and Uncle Iroh talking about it. I really wasn't that far away."

"Oh. I guess you're right there. How far away do you think you were?"

Zuko shrugged again. "Two, three, maybe even four feet. I dunno. I didn't exactly measure."

"Didn't you measure the cage when you built it?" asked Aang.

"I didn't build it, remember? I didn't order specific measurements, just the building stuff."

Aang blinked. "So… you didn't bother to decide how big you wanted it to be, but you _did_ know you wanted it to be made entirely out of wood?"

"Yeah, I know, I know, not the smartest thing I've ever done. At least they didn't pay attention to me," Zuko added.

"But if they had, then we'd have been able to get out," Aang pointed out.

"I guess… but then _you_ would have been if I hadn't been caught, so the whole thing would be moot."

"But I'm not a Fire Bender. I like that word."

"What?" Although Zuko had gotten used to Aang's singing, he apparently hadn't gotten used to his sudden topic changes.

"Moot. _MOOT_. Moot. MOOOOOT! moot. **Moot! **Mo-o-o-ot! Moot! Mootie, moot, moot!"

"_What?"_

"Is that your favorite word, what?"

"What, what?"

"No, what?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about what."

"_What are you saying?_"

"I'm saying what."

"What?"

"What.

"What the…"

"No the, just what."

"The, what?"

"What the."

"What the what?"

"What?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Who's on first?"

Zuko stared at him. "You are making no sense whatsoever."

"I was asking if what is your favorite word," explained Aang.

By now Zuko had caught on. "You were asking what is my favorite word?" he joked.

"No, I was asking _if_ what is your favorite word!"

"If _what_ is my favorite word?"

"What."

"What, that's what I'm asking, what?"

"What?"

By now Zuko was laughing so hard he couldn't continue the joke. Since Aang got that he got it, it didn't really matter.

"Actually, I've never really thought about it," Zuko told him when they had stopped laughing.

"What?"

Before they could continue the dizzying conversation, Aang looked up.

"Is that him? Katara, I think I see him! There he is!"

"Aang, we're coming!"

"Hi, Katara, hey, Sokka," cried Aang, jumping up and waving his hands in the air. Looking worried, Zuko bent over to wake his uncle, and the two of them engaged in a whispered conversation.

With a loud 'thump', Appa landed in the clearing, neatly avoiding squashing anyone. Momo hopped off his back and onto Aang's shoulder.

"Hey, Momo," he laughed. "I missed you, Buddy. Did you get Katara and Sokka for me?"

"He sure did," Sokka shouted, jumping down.

"What happened, Aang, did Zuko catch you?" asked Katara.

"Yeah, but then he caught himself, too," Aang explained, gesturing at the two Fire Benders, who were resolutely ignoring them.

"Don't worry," he added as he noticed both his friends looking about to attack Zuko. "They can't fry us, or they'll roast themselves."

"Right, well, let's get you out of here, before they figure out a way to do that," Sokka suggested. "Now, how will we get this cage off of you…?"

"The rope pulls it up from over there," Zuko told him suddenly, gesturing towards the trees. "We designed it specially so we could get it opened."

"Well, if you'd told _me_ that, I could have Air Bended us out of this mess," Aang pointed out.

"Don't blame me, Prince Zuko didn't tell me how to do it," Iroh put in.

Aang nodded his acknowledgement, and turned to the exiled prince in a question.

"Well, then we'd still be stuck, and you wouldn't," Zuko pointed out. "And Momo was our only food source."

"That's nice," Sokka called from where he and Katara were working the rope. "Didn't trust him at all, did you? Well, those who are untrustworthy are untrusting, I always say."

"You've never said that in your life," Katara protested. Sokka ignored her.

"Just for that," he told Zuko, "We're leaving you in there!"

Aang's cage fell backwards and the Avatar slipped out.

"No," he said slowly. "Just for that, we're proving you wrong.


	11. The Return of the Fuzziest Slippers

"I _still_ can't believe that you just let Zuko go," complained Sokka. "What if _he'd_ gotten out first, then what would have happened? Do you think he would have returned the favor?"

"Actually, yes, I do," Aang told him.

"Sokka's right, Aang," Katara said. "Zuko would have locked you up and taken you to the Fire Nation, not let you go."

"I just can't believe that he's _completely_ evil," Aang protested. "I mean, Zuko's nice, once you get to know him, and get past all of the…"

"The Fire Bending?" asked Sokka sarcastically. "The vengeful honor obsession? The fact that he's trying to kill us?"

"Yeah. Once you get past all that, he's really a nice guy. I dunno, I just think there's a side of him that's…"

"A homicidal murderer?"

Aang rolled his eyes. "Yes, but I mean the _other_ side of him. His good side."

"Zuko has a good side?" asked Katara. "Well, I'm sure _you're_ the only one who's ever seen it."

"No," Aang shook his head. "Iroh, and probably some others, too. He's really just a kid."

"Teenager."

"Whatever. I dunno, I just believe that, deep down inside, Zuko's really a good person."

"Well, if so," Katara said, "It's _very_ deep down inside."

"Very, extremely deep!" shouted Sokka. "As in, the core of the Earth kind of deep! Hugely far down there. Completely invisible to the human eye. Tiny little heart deep down inside!"

"But I'm glad you got a chance to see it," Katara finished, shoving Appa's reigns into her brother's mouth.

"Yeah," muttered Aang. "So am I."

Spitting out the reigns, Sokka rejoined their conversation by changing the topic. "So, exactly _how_ far have we gone off track in order to rescue Aang from the clutches of the not-evil Prince Zuko?"

"Umm," Aang looked at the map. "No idea whatsoever. Where are we?"

"We're… here," Sokka said, pointing at a spot on the map. And we're heading… here."

"Odd." Katara leaned over and looked at it. "_That_," she pointed at the second spot Sokka had marked "Is the South Pole. _That_," she pointed at the first spot "Would be Kyoshi. We've already been there."

Both boys stared at her. "So… what does that mean?" asked Aang.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Sokka. "It means… _the world has been turned upside-down!"_

"Or, you're holding the map the wrong way," Katara suggested, flipping it rightside-up.

"Oh. I knew that."

"So… where are we, by the-world-has-not-been-turned-upside-down terms?" asked Aang.

"It's very easy, young Avatar," Sokka said. "The answer to all questions is always the same."

"So… two plus two and what should I eat for dinner are the same? Two plus two is nuts, or I should have four for dinner?"

"No, I mean the way to find out the answer!" snapped Sokka, losing his calm demeanor.

"Which is… what exactly?"

"You want the short answer, or the long one? I can't keep this dignity thing up forever."

"Short answer, please."

"Ask Katara," Sokka said, shoving the map in his sister's face.

She groaned. "Why can't you for once ask me a question _normally_?"

Aang answered that for Sokka. "Katara, my friend, you live on a six legged giant bison that flies when you say 'yip-yip'. You are a self-trained Water Bender, who lives with her loudmouthed brother…"

"And a bald twelve-year-old monk who looks like a _monkey_," grumbled Sokka. Aang ignored him. "And we have a crazy teenager with a messed up scar and an obsession with vengeance and honor trying to kill us," continued Sokka. "The fact that he's a Fire Bender is not helping matters."

"And you live off nuts and nut-shaped rocks," finished Aang. "Get me a dictionary; I don't remember what 'normal' means."

There wasn't much they could say to that.

Zuko glared at the water. Stupid Avatar. Now that he had saved his life, he would have a lot of trouble killing him. Whoa, that was confusing. Howabout… Now that Aang had saved Zuko's life, Zuko would have a lot of trouble killing Aang.

_The idea wasn't to kill him, stupid, it was to capture him._

_Well, he didn't save your life, either. But he let you go; therefore you're going to have a hard time capturing him. More than usual, that is._

_What do you mean, 'more than usual'? _

_Look, since I **am** you, I'm not going to do a cat-and-mouse dance trying to spare your feelings. I'll just be blunt. Before you couldn't capture the Avatar because he's smarter than you, now you can't capture him because you like him. Simple deal there._

_Well, there's not much I can do if I **do** like him! I have to get home, and the only way is with Aang. He'll understand._

_No, he won't. But that doesn't matter, does it? He has to grow up, it's a harsh world and he has to get used to it._

_Right… hey! I'm **not** a cynical crazy kid who's obsessed with trying to teach other people how terrible the world is._

_You said it, not me._

_Great, _though Zuko. _My conscience is sarcastic._

Iroh wandered up onto the deck, waving absently at the half-asleep helmsman on duty. The rest of the crew was more than half asleep, as it _was_ the middle of the night. If Zuko had any sense, he would follow their example, buy _no-oo. _He had to be awake all the time, whining, or looking for the Avatar, yelling, or sulking. Did he ever do anything else?

What was that? Zuko seemed to be moving a little more than he usually did when sulking. Iroh moved closer, until he could hear a soft noise that seemed to be coming from his nephew.

"The fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

The fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

I have the fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

'Cause my slippers are very fuzzy!"

Oh. Well, it looked like Zuko _did_ do something besides whine, look for the Avatar, yell, and sulk. He sang about fuzzy slippers. Slightly… odd, but at least it was _something_.

It was a pity that Aang wasn't here. He'd have loved to hear Zuko finally sing about fuzzy slippers.

"Look!" Sokka pointed warningly at a ship sailing just beneath them.

"Fire Nation!" cried Katara.

"Zuko," added her brother. "Aang, come on!" he exclaimed, as he noticed that the Avatar was sitting completely still, listening to something.

"Shhh," hissed Aang. "Listen."

"The fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

The fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

I have the fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

'Cause my slippers are very fuzzy!"

"Was that… Zuko singing?" asked Katara in disbelief. Aang nodded.

"The evil Fire Nation exiled prince singing about fuzzy slippers," commented Sokka, shaking his head. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"_I_ never thought about it at all," his sister said. "The idea that Zuko would do something that… ridiculous is just… insane. Totally beyond anything I've ever dreamed I'd see. It's weird, that's was it is. Just plain weird."

Aang grinned. "That's what makes it fun!"

Yes, I borrowed the last line from the first episode for this one. I love how they ended it. Anyway, I'm home sick today, so that's why I managed to update while I was supposed to be in school. I'm pretty sure I'm done (did you know that this story is fifty pages long?) but I'm thinking of adding an epilogue. What do you think? What do you think should happen? Ohh, never mind! I just had a great idea on what's going to happen, and I know what it is, but it'll probably be totally wrong with what they say will happen! Whatever, while I'm using 'w's. Anyway, hope you liked it, look out for the epilogue soon.


	12. Epilogue: The Singing Continues

A/N Sixty pages! Well, not this chapter, I mean the whole story. This chapter is eleven pages long, not counting the author's note. Sixty pages, and the story is finished. Thanks you, everyone who reviewed (especially hart of flames, still thanking you for Zuko's song), this story wouldn't have been anything without you. I mean it. Anyway, so this chapter takes place after the series has ended, the good guys win, Zuko is the FireLord, and all that happy stuff has happened. Believe whichever ship you like turned out okay, hmm? Oh, and Momo has children.

_**EPILOGUE **_

_**TEN YEARS LATER**_

"Here's a llama,

There's a llama.

And another little llama.

Fuzzy llama.

Funny llama.

Llama, llama duck!

Llama, llama

Cheesecake llama

Tablet, brick, potato Llama

Llama, llama mushroom, llama

Llama, llama duck!

I was once a Treehouse.

I lived in a cake!

But I never saw the way

The orange slayed the rake.

I was only three years dead.

But it told the tale.

And now listen, little child,

To the safety rail.

Did you ever see a llama?

Kiss a llama on the llama?

Llama's llama, taste of llama

Llama, llama duck.

Half a llama,

Twice a llama

Not a llama

Farmer, llama.

Llama, in a car

Alarm a llama

Llama, llama, duck.

Is that how it's told now?

Is it all so old?

Is it made of lemon juice?

Doorknob, ankle, cold.

Now my song is getting thin.

I've run out of luck.

Time for me to retire now and become a duck."

Bumi grinned. "Perfect, Zuko, you sound like a mad genius."

"Thanks… I think," muttered the former Prince.

"It's a compliment," Katara told him. "Well, coming from him, according to Aang… I think it's a compliment."

"Of course, Aang's not really a very reliable source as to what's an insult or not," added Sokka. "I mean, the kid thinks _everything's_ a compliment, why should this be any different?"

Zuko laughed, sounding much less evil than he had ten years ago. At twenty two, Aang was hardly a kid anymore, although his cheerful views of the world, while taking on a less naïve stance, were still in place.

"Speaking of Aang, where _is_ he?" Katara asked suddenly.

Zuko and Sokka both shrugged, but Bumi grinned mysteriously.

"You'll see," he told them.

"What?" demanded Katara.

"What is it?" put in Sokka.

"Where is he?" asked Zuko, changing the first word just for variation.

Apparently, that one change wasn't enough for the King of Omashu. "Very original, young ones, _very_ original," he said sarcastically. "It's a wonder you were anywhere _near _one another when you said that, each question was so different. I could hardly tell that you were asking the same thing, they were that opposite. Why, I…"

"Alright, alright, we get it!" was the general outcry from the trio.

"Get what?" asked a new voice suddenly. Turning, they saw Iroh standing in the doorway, holding a very tiny lemur in his arms.

"Nothing, Uncle," Zuko told him, giving him a hug. "Hello, Micha," he added to the lemur.

"That would be Dinn," corrected Iroh. Everyone laughed. Iroh had an odd efficiency for telling Momo's children, even the two identical twins, Micha and Dinn, apart.

"Where's your father, Dinn?" asked Katara, not really expecting an answer. "Is he with Aang?"

Dinn flew over and perched in her hair.

"Is Momo on her head?" joked Zuko.

"More strangely, is Aang?" asked Sokka. They laughed again.

At that moment, a loud voice from outside told them _exactly_ where Aang was.

"_I'm_… gonna soak up the su-u-_un_!

Gonna tell every_one_

To… let…it go-o!

And _I'm_…

"Ow, Momo! Stop it! Slippers are not dinner, no matter how fuzzy they are! Momo, come back here with that! What are you… Oh. Well, thank you, Micha. I think. Hey! What? What'd I do this time? Momo, get back here, you little… Ouch! _Momo!_"

Sokka and Katara looked at each other and grinned.

"He's back," they chorused, both heading to greet their friend at the same time.

"Gee, I didn't notice," muttered Zuko, following the pair. Iroh and Bumi trailed after them.

"Aang, where _were_ you?" asked Katara.

"We were going to eat dinner without you!" exclaimed Sokka.

"We were?"

"Yes, Katara, we were. Well, at least, I was."

Aang laughed, and then turned serious again. "I was on an important mission. Doing something I should have done ten years ago. Bumi…" he turned to his friend. "It has been officially decided that you _do not_ have the fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood."

Everyone stared at him.

"Now what could possess someone to spend all day wandering the city trying to figure out _that_, I have no idea," Zuko muttered.

"I wanted to find out," Aang explained.

"Yes, but still. You could have… oh, I don't know, held a competition over whose slippers are fuzzier."

Everyone stared at him. "Bumi," Aang commented finally. "Next time you want to figure out whose slippers are fuzzier, ask Zuko."

Bumi, meanwhile, was singing mournfully.

"The second-fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood.

The second-fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood.

I have the second-fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood.

'Cause my slippers aren't quite as fuzzy as I once thought."

"Oh, hush, Bumi," Aang said crossly. "The person who really has the fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood is a retired cabbage seller who once tried to sentence Sokka, Katara and I to death for squashing his cabbages. I always thought he was a little odd, and now he's proven it."

"How?" asked everyone.

"He has proven it by saying the most absurd thing known to the history of mankind," Aang stated dramatically. "He has said… that he does not like the fuzz on the fuzziest slippers. And so," he turned cheerful again and pulled a pair of slippers out from behind his back. "He was perfectly happy to trade. Congratulations, Bumi, you now have the fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood."

Aang tossed the slippers to Bumi, set the lemurs down on the floor to investigate something, and sat down at the table to eat his dinner before Sokka did.

"The fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

The fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

I have the fuzziest slippers in the neighborhood!

'Cause my slippers are very fuzzy!" cheered Bumi.

Ignoring him, the others all sat down to what turned out to be about five minutes of peaceful, normal conversation and dinner before Sokka and Katara started squabbling.

"You _lost_, Sokka, face it, pay up," snapped Katara.

"_You_ cheated," Sokka whined. "You told him."

"Did anyone ever say that I couldn't? I think not. Was there any reason that that should impact the results in any way? I think not. Is there any excuse for going back on your word now that you've figured out that you lost? I think not!"

"What?" asked Aang, feeling that he had missed a very large part of this conversation. "What happened?"

As the Water Tribe siblings were too busy arguing to respond, Zuko took it upon himself to answer.

"Sokka and Katara had a bet on whether or not I'd sing the Llama Song," he began.

"Did you?" Aang interrupted eagerly.

"Yes, do you want me to finish or not?"

"Don't be crabby, FireLord Zuko," Iroh told him calmly.

"I'm not being crabby, I'm just… oh, never mind. Anyway, Aang, yes, I did sing the Llama Song, so Katara won the bet. I'm not quite sure _what_ they bet, but now Sokka doesn't want to do it."

"What did you bet?" asked Aang, turning to them.

Sokka reddened and whispered something in his ear. Aang grinned widely.

"Aww, come on, Sokka, it's not _that_ hard!"

"No!"

"You _did_ make a bet," Bumi pointed out.

"And you can't go back on your word," Katara added.

"Who knows?" Aang suggested. "It might even be fun!"

Grudgingly, Sokka allowed himself to be persuaded.

Standing up on the table, he picked up a plate and spoon at started banging on them for attention, although everyone was already looking at him. Either it was part of the bet, or he was trying to save a scrap of dignity by trying to pretend that his friends _weren't_ staring at him like a pack of hungry wolves, waiting to see what he was going to do.

"Attention ladies and gentlemen," he said with a glare at Katara. It seemed that the majority of the assembly was stifling giggles. "I have an announcement to make."

He shot one more glare at his sister, and then began.

"We like the moon!

'Cause it is close too us!

We like the moo-o-oon!

But not as much as a spoon.

'Cause that's more use for eating soup.

And a fork isn't very useful for that.

Unless it has got many vegetables.

And maybe the you'd be better off with a CHOPSTICK!

Unlike the moon.

It is up in the sky.

It up there very high,

But maybe not as high as

Dirigibles or Zeppelins or LIGHTBULBS!

And maybe clouds.

And puffins also I think they go quite high too.

But maybe not as high as the moon!

We like the Moon.

The moon is very useful everyone.

Everybody like the MOOON!

'Cause it lovely and it make the tides go and we LIKE it!

But not as much as cheese.

We really like cheese, we like zeppelins.

We really like deer

And we like moose

And we like marmot

And we like all the fuzzy animals!

But not as much, as the moon.

We like the MOOOOOOOON!"

"Thank you, please leave me alone now," Sokka finished, and hopped off the table and sat down.

Aang burst into applause, but stopped when he realized that nobody else was. At the same time, Katara started clapping. Then she stopped, and he started.

They did that several times. Sokka's embarrassment was quite forgotten in the hilarity that ensued. Finally Zuko resolved that matter by clapping during the short pause between, them, so that they both continued their applause.

"What would you ever do without me?" he muttered as that problem was solved.

"You mean whose stupidity would entertain us?" asked Katara. "Probably Sokka's."

Before either of them had to come up with a response to that, Aang distracted them all.

"It's all over the pl-ace!

Even in your f-ace!

You're all tied up!

I have a cup!

I threw some bread at you!

And you threw bread at me too!

Lint!"

They stared at him.

"That is the most random thing I have ever heard," Zuko announced.

Aang grinned. "Well, that's why they call it 'The Song of Randomness'! But, actually, I think the Llama Song is randomer. Is that a word?"

"No, and this song is."

"The Llama Song is."

"Song of Randomness!"

"Llama Song!"

"Random!"

"Llama!"

"Random!"

"Llama!"

"Random!"

"This is seeming a slight bit familiar," Iroh muttered. Both men stopped squabbling and looked at him, then burst out laughing.

"Oops," said Zuko finally, slightly recovering. He carefully avoided looking at Aang, who was still in hysterics, in case he followed his friend's example.

For the second time that day, singing from outside told them who was coming.

"I know a song

It's not very long

It goes like this, you see.

It's kind of snappy

Makes me happy.

Ends with Bojabe.

Hey!"

"Hey, Meng," called Katara as the younger woman came in. Noticing her companion, she added, "Hi, Aunt Wu."

"Hello, Katara, it's very good to see you again," the old lady said cordially.

"What's wrong with Aang?" asked Meng quietly.

"He and Zuko were fighting," Sokka explained, "And Iroh said it sounded familiar. So, now he's laughing hysterically."

"Umm, why?"

"I dunno, maybe it's an Avatar thing."

That only made Aang laugh harder, and Zuko grinned widely.

"Or, maybe it's just something that only Aang and Zuko will ever get," Katara suggested noticing his reaction. "So, Meng, are you ready down there?"

"Yup."

"Okay, then, let's go!"

"Go where?" asked Zuko.

"You'll see," Bumi said mysteriously.

"You really like saying that, don't you?"

"Yup!"

Walking outside, Katara hopped nimbly up onto Appa's back and grabbed the reigns. Sokka followed her, swarmed with lemurs, and Iroh and Bumi came next, supporting a still-laughing Aang. Meng and Aunt Wu followed, with a very confused Zuko trailing behind.

"So, what's all this about?" Zuko asked the group in general as Appa took off.

"You'll see," Katara said, echoing Bumi.

"Can't _anyone_ give a straight answer these days?" complained the Fire Bender.

"Maybe, maybe not," Sokka replied infuriatingly.

The ride was short enough that Zuko got nothing out of his friends, but long enough that Aang recovered.

"You say tomato.

I say tom-ah-to.

You say potato.

I say pot-ah-to.

Tomato!

Tom-ah-to!

Potato!

Pot-ah-to!

Let's call the whole thing…

_Off_!"

Aang, Meng, Iroh and Bumi chorused noisily as Appa came in for a landing.

"We're he-re!" called Katara loudly, dismounting.

Sokka, who had been standing right next to her, rubbed his ear in silent agony.

"Really, Katara, I think we all noticed," Zuko said, hopping down and helping his uncle. "Why did you have to… oh, never mind. Questions won't be answered, I know, I know."

"Actually, this time, we _will_ answer you," said Iroh.

"She was calling someone," said Sokka.

"More like someone_s_," said Aang.

"That's not a word, but that's what she was doing," said Aunt Wu.

"It's a surprise," said Bumi.

"So you have to pretend you don't know what's going on," said Meng.

"No trouble there," muttered Zuko. "Believe me, I don't."

He didn't have a chance to ask any more questions, however, because just at that point, it was all made clear to him.

"Surprise!" shouted everyone.

By everyone, I mean the group who was already there (Aang, Katara, Sokka, Meng, Aunt Wu, Uncle Iroh, Bumi, and the lemurs, who weren't doing much shouting) plus everyone who had shown up (Teo, Haru, Azula, Mei, Ty Lee, Gran-Gran, the cabbage man, a few reformed pirates, several Fire Benders who had been on Zuko's crew, Jun, Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, others who very well could have made up an entire village, and many more).

"Happy birthday, Zuko," explained Aang.

"Duh," added Sokka under his breath. For once, nobody elbowed him into silence.

"Ready?" asked Aang of the entire group.

An assortment of nods, 'yeah's, 'yes's, 'yup's, 'you betcha's and other words and phrases that meant basically the same thing answered him.

"Good. One, two three…"

"Happy, happy birthday!

From all of us to you!

We wish it was our birthday

So we could party too!"

'Umm," began Zuko, not quite sure what to say to that rapid song.

"C'mon, there's cake," Aang told him, grabbing his wrist and dragging him off.

The rest of the party went exactly as one would expect a surprise birthday party operated by such an odd assortment of people to go. Chaotically.

"Duck!" screamed Aunt Wu at Sokka almost an hour later. Automatically, he did so, just in time to avoid being pegged in the head by several flying lemurs who were chasing one another around the area just at the same level as his head.

"Thank you," he said. "Appa, don't eat that!"

_That_ was a Fire Bender's armor, which is something that nobody, even a ten-ton, six-legged flying bison with an arrow on his head, should eat.

"This is a song that never ends!

It just goes on and on my friends!

Some people… started singing it

Not knowing what it was

And ended up singing for_ever_ 'cause…

This is the song that never ends!

It just goes on and on my friends!

Some people … started singing it

Not knowing what it was

And ended up singing for_ever_ 'cause…

This is the song that never ends!

It just goes on and on my friends!

Some people…"

"Meng! We get it!"

"Hey, I was just trying to illustrate that the song never ends. Besides, you can't make me stop in the middle of a verse!"

Before anyone could protest, she was singing again.

"Started singing it

Not knowing what it was

And ended up singing for_ever_ 'cause…"

"What happened?" asked Zuko, walking up behind Aang.

Aang shrugged. "Well, you know how the song says that some people started singing it not knowing what it was and ended up singing forever 'cause this is the song that never ends?"

"Yeah!" Zuko said hastily, hoping his friend wouldn't get to singing it.

"Well, I think one of those people was Meng." He pointed, and Zuko winced.

"Ouch… Momo!" He hurried off towards the lemur, quickly stopping him from killing anyone.

Aang smiled. Zuko had definitely changed in the past ten years. They all had, but Zuko especially. After all, who would have imagined the exiled prince of the Fire Nation voluntarily singing the Llama Song?


End file.
